Well, after seeing (and recording) such an awesome show on Halloween at the Coliseum, this show was kind of a let down. I was only lucky enough to score tickets for NYE for the '89, '90, and '91 shows. The prior two years we had a good time and, because of the priority tickets handed out early, we ended up with decent spots in the taperssection. This year we also got priority tickets but once we got into the Coliseum we discovered that people had 'reserved' the Entire taperssection (and the other balcony seats as well), with coats! There was no place for us to set up, so we had no choice but to find seats high up in the rafters on the left side. We watched the show with our gear still in the bags, being unable to set up.

It was kind of sad, with Bill Graham's recent passing, and we never got to experience what Uncle Bobo must have had in the works for the '91 NYE celebration. They showed clips from previous NYE shows at the set break and there was a real somber mood in the air.

I don't think things were ever the same after Bill's passing. I last saw him on his dirt bike at the Jerry shows at Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe, in August. Some of the magic was definitely lost. We will miss you Bill.

Thanks for the soundboard satelite recording. Now at least I will get to hear what I couldn't record at the time.

(Rating reflects my personal memory of the show, not necessarily musical performance.)

This show has meant a lot to me since the day I too recorded it at home fm>cs. I happened to be looking after a friend's high end stereo at the time and ended up with a great master. It was tough staying awake until 3 or so to record it all. Yes, final NYE show, first show recorded by me. I would call this a low energy show, but not in a bad way. It is a tight show, and sincere, unique. First set has a nice song selection, with perhaps the crowd favorite of the night, Help>Slip>Franklin's to end it. Great ending of Franklin's btw. Second set is pretty dreamy until Sugar Mag wakes things up a bit. '91 fades away. Thank you Bill Graham. Great night, great year! See you in Landover.

Fare thee well 1991, on to 1992.

It was only a let down by NYE standards but solid.
Not nearly as good as 12/28/91 which I would say is the end of the era. I really like the Candyman, BIODTL, The Roses, and Sugar Mags is exceptional! Phil is on like a pot-o-neckbones!

listening to this show now, so hot! was so glad to have been ther, possibly one of the last gr8 unencombered quality shows b4 the demise of the 92-95 shows, we'll needless to say would give months wages to c a show like this now ,

This is an excellent show. Yes, there are performance letdowns and there is a touch of dispirited playing but the recording is so full-on wonderful that it more than makes up for the occasional missing of the mark.

Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals, Bass, Drums = All good. But that BASS! Oh, what a fine Phil fill-up. This is the Hy-Test rocket fuel to this entire show, hey, this is entire year! That's it, "1991, The Year Of The Bass."

And leave us not want to mention the real star of this show: Vince. Despite a few minor mistakes, Welnick contributes an incredibly dual-edged cutting of the proverbial heads both singing and playing; all-keyboard shining with his embellishments and spot-on high voice harmonies: he is a true and vibrant multi-faceted presence.

Perhaps this is a final resting spot when the band of Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Kreutzman, Hart and Welnick had reached ensemble, and, if such a place ever existed, Estimated Prophet extracts and draws that very confluence. Cannot remember when I've ever heard such an unleashing of guitars attacked so vociferously by Vince's relentless chords of color. Tremendous, tremendous, tremendous, et al, awe-inspiring! Such a joyful noise!

All great from start to finish. First set, second set, drum solo, space, jam, resolve, encore(s).

Run don't walk to listen to this mind-blowing masterpiece of propriety and good taste.

No, this show was not all that one could ask or think. It was above and beyond all that one could ask or think.

The 2nd set is not as inspired as 1 year before, with Marsalis joining. Strange repeat of NFA> Eyes/ Other 1 Rat... 91 and 92. But the intro to NFA and Eyes are good and do have some unusual percussion. The rest of the band is pretty choppy throughout I thought though. It's a decent show but I'll always grab the previous year for this song selection.

I had a party for this that should have never happened!

After traveling 3000 miles from Philly I scored my ticket in the parkinglot of the"Easy 8" motel three days before the show and was able to get excited for three days. Not Fade Away at midnight was simply a mindblower with a transition into Eyes that was epic. One of my fondest memories.

Not as great as years past but good

I stayed up in NYC listening to this show. At the time I did not find it all that great, but in hindsight there are some real nice characteristics to it.
For one, Phil's bass had the tone i love from him, he stepped it up nicely (listen to Bucket). In latter years he seemed to blend in too much and not stand out as much.

Drums in NFA is unique, they play a different way and it leads into Eyes beautifully. I love the drums on this!

Otherwise, not a bad way to spend 2 hrs listening to music.

For me the best part of this show was the montage of Bill Graham countdowns shown on the screen behind stage right before midnight. Overall Playing was OK. some good moments, but just not close to the high bar expected on New Years...gets a 2 for that reason

Most people hate this new years (musically- not for the loss of Graham) good to see others appreciate it. I find the set list great and the playing at a very high level. Love the first set and the Estimated>jam as decribed by others is fantastic. Best Sugar mag post Hornsby. Give it a whirl before nay-sayers get to you.

I remember listening to this show on KOPN 89.5 fm in Columbia MO as part of the nationwide fm broadcast. What a show! I was taping this show on old TDK SA-90 tapes right off the fm.
The jam out of Estimated is absolutely killer with vocal weirdness from olatunji and the sugar mag and heaven's door were just the perfect ending to the NYE tradition.

This was the last new years show.They retired the traditiond with Sugar Magnolia then Heavens Door,both for Bill. The last two songs are great for a historical filler.